The present invention relates to a carrier strip arrangement, and particularly to a carrier strip arrangement which provides excellent protection over the contacts formed/stamped thereon.
Since more and more complicated contacts are employed in electrical connectors for achieving high performance, more strict requirements are presented as to the manufacturing process of the contacts. The complicated contacts often form many inclined or curved structures thereof. Generally, the contact has a complicated contour, including inclined and/or curved section. The complicated contacts are usually stamped from a sheet of metal and arranged in regularly repetitive and sequential order thereby forming a carrier strip arrangement. A carrier strip arrangement typically includes a guiding structures, for example the guiding perforations, and the formed contacts attached thereto are presumed to be protected by those guiding perforations.
However, since the carrier strip arrangement only contains a single carrier strip connecting with the contacts at a single side, the carrier arrangement accordingly is apt to deformations and warpage in package and transportation owing. Furthermore, when plating the carrier arrangement, more plating material may be wasted due to the deformation and warpage caused by the poor stabilization of the carrier arrangement since the contacts is connected with the single carrier strip at only the single side. Moreover, when the carrier strip arrangement is served as a contact feeding during assembly process of a connector, the carrier strip can only be held on a single side thereby lowing down the manufacturing process.
Therefore, an improved carrier strip arrangement is required.